Weekend visitors!

The only way to get Linden to sit for a group shot: put him in a tree

This will be a short little post - we had some special visitors over the weekend (Clark's mom Deborah and step-dad Yvon), and though we had a fun, jam-packed few days, I didn't ever really pause to document it.  There was some park-playing, some pottery-making, some eating out, AND, Clark and I had a date night while the kids got to go to Friendly's and stay up late watching Kipper (I should mention that Deborah managed all of this with a newly broken ankle and walking cast). Clark and I had planned on going to a really fun-sounding performance in the Village, but that got cancelled at the last minute.  So instead, we went (for the first time, if you can imagine!) the cinema pub in Falmouth.  I've never been to such a place - there is a big movie screen on one end, and the theatre is filled with tables and comfy swivel chairs.  There are waiters and waitresses who come by, and you order food and drinks, and watch your movie in comfort.  It was really fun!  We might even bring the kids to see their first movie there at some point - it seems like a pretty great way to do it.

Experiencing the joys of compost

Apart from the visit, the week was mostly pretty par for the course.  On Thursday, however, I volunteered to go on a field trip with Linden's preschool - a trip to a local compost farm.  The destination was pretty cool (I was, I think, as excited to see the facilities as the kids!), but Linden was at full mischievousness.  Instead of listening to the explanations and exploring the wonders of compost, I was mostly engaged trying to prevent/reprimand Linden for running at and tackling other children, and pulling him (by the back of his jacket), off of the big compost piles that he was trying to climb.  Sigh. 

The master builder with his village-in-progress

 As I type, Linden is playing with his trucks and trains (which, he still insists, "beep up", rather than "back up").  He likes to announce to everyone that he is a "constructionist" (maybe a construction worker?)  We are also, as you can see, heavy into blocks at the moment -- this means that, between the cars and trains and blocks, there are always (ALWAYS) tonnes of tiny things to step on a clean up.

Juniper: self portrait

Juniper, on the other hand, is all about reading, writing and drawing/painting.  Her people have evolved into entities with bodies and fingers and toes, and - as the case may be - glasses.  She is also concerned with details now - for instance, whenever she draws family portraits, she makes sure to point out that I am the only one with blue eyes. She is getting very adept at sounding out words, and with a little context (for instance, pictures in books), she can read a surprising amount. She also loves writing and illustrating her own books (which reminds me of someone else at that age!) This morning I had a note waiting for me when I woke up that simply had 6 hearts, and the message: "we love you". Not a bad way to wake up!

Linden and I are about to leave to do a little grocery shopping and carousel riding in Hyannis... usually we go for an outdoor adventure on our mama-Linden days, but the rain and wind has deterred me this morning.  Hope everyone has a wonderful (American Thanksgiving) week!

Mid November Miscellany

School bus adventures

This week I have a few pictures for you (including a bunch that are very quintessentially autumn), followed by a video!  Aside from Remembrance (ie, Veteran's) Day on Tuesday, the week mostly just flew by in a very normal sort of way.  There was, however, a fun event - our next door neighbour turned 5, and invited us over to celebrate.  Not only was there a birthday party, there was also a large pile of leaves to play in - a somewhat mandatory part of fall that I have purposely been avoiding.  The problem with piles of leaves around these parts is that they might very well be home to those awful, eternally lurking ticks.  But when greeted by a ridiculously large and awesome pile of leaves next door, I couldn't help but let them play to their heart's content.  We just made sure to do a thorough tick check after heading home.

So. Much. Fun.

Blurry leaf throw!

Juniper has a go at the pile

Linden naturally gets the big trucks involved

Another highlight next door - some pretty sweet climbing trees

Saturday marked a first for Juniper - she participated in a track meet! It consisted of two events: a "long" run (ie, 3/4 of the way around the high school gym), and a sprint. They separated the boys and the girls, and had four kids in each heat - one from each of the four elementary schools in the area. When they called the kindergarteners down to the floor, Juniper (decked out in a t-shirt that was, naturally, 4 sizes too big for her), enthusiastically ran to meet her fellow Mullen Hall-ers, and proceeded to somehow trip and go sprawling, ending up in a spectacular face plant.  This did not seem to phase her, but it was a rather ominous start. (*note: at that moment, Clark unnecessarily leaned in and whispered "wow, she really is a lot like you, isn't she?") Ahem.

Anyway, the long and short of it was that Juniper came 4th out of 4 in both of her races.  Naturally, however, she was given two ribbons (which she is shown proudly displaying below).  When I asked her how she felt about the whole thing afterward, she sighed and said, "well - I was the last one both times.  I would have really like to have been the one who broke through the toilet paper" (they were using a large roll of toilet paper strung between two volunteers as the finish line tape).  "So why do you think you weren't able to run through first?" I queried. "Were you out of breath?  Did your legs hurt?" Juniper gave me a look, and replied "mom - didn't you see me when I first went out to the gym floor?  I was afraid I was going to trip again!" Fair enough.

Huge shirt; participatory ribbons

 And finally, this week marked one more milestone - Linden has finally mostly mastered his new pedal bike! About a month and a half ago, Clark (who has been volunteering at the Falmouth Bike lab -- a community bike repair shop), decided that Linden was so comfortable bombing around on his strider bike that it was time to move up to pedals. I was not convinced - 3 seemed a bit young to me for Linden to start riding a real bike. But Clark was undeterred, and Frankenstein-ed together a perfectly-sized bike from a bunch of different junker bikes and parts at the bike lab (Linden actually went in and "helped" him one day, which is ridiculously cute in and of itself).  Anyway, it took a few tries for Linden to get used to the pedals (mostly making sure his feet didn't go backwards, which would send him to a screeching halt, of course), and he is still having trouble getting started on his own. But once he's started, he can motor! I included a little clip in the movie. I have to say, the balance bikes have really impressed me - they meant a relatively seamless transition to pedals for both kids, with nary a training wheel ever involved in the process!

Hard-core biker dude

I will leave you, as promised, with a little video of some random day-to-day stuff.  I have included a couple of clips from one of the many (many, many) "shows" that happen around here; the aforementioned clip of Linden biking around; and a little snippet of Linden playing (and singing) "Twinkle Twinkle".  I included this not because it is a beautifully haunting piece to listen to, but rather because it kind of blows me away, for two reasons.  The first is that Linden taught HIMSELF how to play the first phrase, after watching and listening to Juniper (I showed him the rest). The second is how he is able to hear when he makes mistakes and then corrects himself.  These are both signs of a pretty advanced ear for a 3-year-old. I am excited to see how this manifests as he gets older!  

Boston adventures

Subway reflections

Today I bring you two treats - the long-awaited school photos (and for Juniper, also terrible soccer photos) from this year, and a whole bunch of pictures from our relatively impromptu Sunday trip to Boston.

The confident kindergartener

First, the school pics. Just so everyone is clear, I painstakingly did Juniper's hair the morning of picture day.  When I had finally done everything to my satisfaction, she ran back upstairs for the finishing touch - a big sparkly headband. This, of course, squished and squashed and deformed the cute braids I had masterfully woven into her hair, and left a huge unsightly bump of hair on the top of her head.  What can you do? Absolutely nothing, of course.  On the plus side, I convinced her to wear a dress that I made her - a tradition I hope to continue as long as possible.

The super dapper preschooler

Linden, as you can see, is dressed in a tuxedo shirt (the only plain white shirt I could find), with a much-too-large woven New Brunswick tie that his grandma and grandpa had given him last time we were home. Also, the photographer clearly photoshopped out the big scar on the bridge of his nose that he had sustained from an aforementioned library accident. But seriously - do you get much cuter than that?

And finally, Juniper's soccer picture.  Ummmm - how were we hoodwinked into paying for what turned out to be a slightly blurry shot, with uber-glasses-glare, where she isn't even looking at the camera?  Lesson learned. Also, we decided to get these done in the end because we thought it would be nice for her to have a team shot memento, but as it turns out, only three other kids stayed long enough to be in the team shot anyway.  Fail!

Boston!

We had been talking for awhile about how it was high time that we mustered up the hutzpah and went on a weekend adventure of some sort. There has, for the last month or so, always been one reason or another why it just did not end up happening.  But on Sunday, we finally organized everything we needed, and got ourselves out the door for a day of Boston fun. We actually had not been in quite awhile, and it was easier in some respects than previous trips... no diapers, feeling confident enough to blow through Linden's nap, knowing exactly how to navigate the subway, etc etc.  A trip is only as successful as the kids let it be, however, and Linden was, through much of it, more than a little hard to handle. I mean, he had is moments of joy (like, any time he was on the train, or when he was finally allowed to run free at Boston Commons/Public Gardens), but I think he was just generally overtired. Overtired = bad news. But truly, in the end, it was worth it - we had a lot of fun. Here are some shots from the day:

The train journey begins!

Visiting Myrtle the Turtle at the New England Aquarium - always the most important stop.  She is over 500lbs, and somewhere between 80-90 years old!

Mesmerizing moon jellies

Juniper checks out some Pacific sea nettles

This is a gorgeous carousel, with so many fun animals (a whale, a fox, a grasshopper, a bird, rabbit...). Linden chose a lobster, and Juniper is riding a magical butterfly

Juniper appreciating the busker at Quincy Market

Enjoying some gelato after a yummy meal at Wagamama's

Once he was allowed to run free, Linden decided it was important to climb every lamppost in Boston Commons

Clearly, it was much more fun than you can even imagine

Looking down at the lovely fall colours from the bridge over the Public Gardens pond

Juniper was sad that the swan boat was retired for the season, but was still content to sit for a spell and contemplate life, etc.

Best buds

Make way for ducklings!

Happy Remembrance Day (or Veteran's day, as the case may be), and we'll see you next week!

Happy Hallowe'en!

All costumed and ready for school (Photo compliments of our neighbour Julie)

 This is, of course, the obligatory (and fun!) post-Hallowe'en post. (It is also, incidentally, the first post in a long time that I can't take credit for a single one of the photos).

Juniper wanted to be a bluebird this year, so I got out the fabric and felt, and did the best I could. I think we were both pleased with the results - it is simple, effective, and will hopefully come out lots of times in future dress-up games. I had big plans to also make Linden's costume, but as the day quickly approached, it became clear that the path of least resistance would be to simply put him in his brand new superhero costume that he got for his birthday. He clearly did not care one way or the other, and when I got over my weird guilt for not putting him in something homemade, I was able to admire what an adorable superhero he made :)

On Hallowe'en night I donned our much-used wizard costume (though it was a teensy bit small on a grown up), and I refused to let Clark leave the house until he at least put on the felt flower petals that Juniper wore last year.  We were, by all accounts, a very festive family. The Hallowe'en fairy was a big hit again this year, and somehow managed to bring exactly what Juniper had been hoping for (sparkly paints and paint brushes, among other things).

Anyway, here are the photos from the week - I hope you all had a wonderful Hallowe'en as well!

Taking flight at the super-fun Woods Hole Spooktacular event the evening before Hallowe'en

The bluebird and the chickadee were super excited to find each other! (Juniper and Helen)

Grumpy bird (Hallowe'en night, before trick-or-treating)

About to head off! (bluebird had improved her attitude)

Leading the way ("alright guys, lets find the next house, and get more candy!")

And finally, a couple of random shots from the weekend:

Group hair styling session

We couldn't resist the photo booth at the Hyannis mall!